Rat Control in Little Silver, NJ

About 8% of Little Silver homes sit directly on the Shrewsbury River, and roughly a third more sit on streams that connect to it. Norway rats travel along banks and drainage edges, so the first place they find a gap is usually the side of a house that faces the water. If your property is on or near a stream, walk that side first and look for holes and worn runways.

Public access points matter too. The public boat launch at Dominick F. Santelle Park on Riverview Avenue sits on the Shrewsbury River, and waterfront edges are where rats travel. If you live within a few blocks of Riverview Avenue, keep bins lidded and pick up fallen bird seed, because food left outside gives rats a reason to leave the bank.

In New Jersey the rat you are almost certainly dealing with is the Norway rat. Roof rats are uncommon here, so if someone tells you they are in your attic, ask what evidence they saw before accepting the diagnosis.

Norway rat burrows are usually a hole about 2 to 3 inches wide, with smooth, packed soil around it and no spider webs across the opening. Look along foundations, beside steps, under decks and sheds, and beneath any slab. A burrow with dirt kicked out in a fan and a worn path in the grass is in active use.

Rats also leave trails. They use the same route night after night, so a strip of flattened grass or a smudge along the base of a wall shows where they travel. If you can find that path, we can place traps and stations on it instead of guessing.

• Gnaw marks on wood, plastic or pipe insulation, larger than what a mouse leaves.
• Greasy rub marks along walls and around a hole where fur and body oils rub off.
• Droppings about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, blunt on the ends, near food or under a deck.
• Scratching or thumping in the ceiling or walls at night, usually heavier than a mouse.

A rat only needs a hole about 1/2 inch wide to get in.

We begin by mapping burrows and entry points, then decide on traps, bait stations or both. Snap traps are strong enough for rats and are set out of reach of pets. Where a bait station is the right choice, we use a tamper-resistant model, placed along runways and fixed so children, pets and wildlife cannot reach the bait.

That last point is a rule, not a preference. Under EPA rules for second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, consumer products must be sold in tamper-resistant stations, and professionals follow the label on placement. A dog or a hawk that eats a poisoned rat can be poisoned too, which is why we do not scatter loose bait.

If you have a dog that digs, tell us. We place stations where a dog cannot reach them, and we favor traps in yards with wandering animals. Do not spread grain-based poison yourself, and do not move a bait station once it is set.

Wildlife is the second concern. Hawks, owls and foxes eat poisoned rodents, and that is how bait travels up the food chain. It is one reason we prefer traps near open ground, and use stations only where the bait cannot reach other animals.

Rats reuse old burrows, so filling a hole without treating the colony only pushes them to dig a new one. Once catches drop, we fill or barrier the burrow, and we seal foundation gaps with cement, sheet metal or hardware cloth. If the rats got in through a crawl space or attic, our attic and crawl space cleanup service handles the droppings and insulation left behind.

When the activity is in a yard, shed or deck, our backyard and outdoor rodent control work covers the outside half. If you want to see how we plan a visit first, the rodent inspection page walks through it.